The Southwestern snake-necked turtle, is also known commonly as the oblong turtle or narrow-breasted snake-necked turtle.
This predator can be found throughout the south-west of WA. Living in a variety of freshwater sources including wetlands, lakes, dams, and rivers. The carapace (upper shell) ranges in colour from light brown to black, and the underside is usually a pale white/yellow. A mature shell length can be between 30 to 40 cm. A very long olive to the grey neck, the head is large and flat with a protruding snout and an unnotched upper jaw.
They have a particularly interesting feeding technique called the ‘gape-and-suck’ feeding method, where they strike at passing prey quickly enlarging the mouth cavity, which acts like a vacuum sucking the prey into the mouth. They are generalist feeders, and opportunistic carnivores eating a broad range of macro-invertebrates, but can also include carrion, frogs, tadpoles, fish, baby water birds as well as terrestrial organisms that are unfortunate enough to fall into the water. Local populations depend on food availability leading to a reduction of turtles in any given area as some leave to find another water source. In natural environments, these freshwater turtles are estimated to live for 30-40 years.
As climate changes, they have the ability to migrate when the water source runs out and can survive dry periods by going into a state of dormancy called aestivation, where they burrow into mud or leaf litter and wait out the conditions by lowering their metabolic needs and live on stored body fat. Unfortunately during this time, they are vulnerable to foxes and human activity such as clearing or groundworks. They also become vulnerable to these threats during their 2 nesting seasons Spring and Summer. Other threats include injury by traffic, fencing that blocks migrations, illegal fishing by humans, and destruction of natural habitat.
Currently listed as ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN, although its status has not been assessed for 20 years.
The most recent DWER surveys of 35 urban wetlands revealed populations of C. oblonga in Perth wetlands are alarmingly low. There were less than 25 turtles captured in about 60 percent of wetlands, and juvenile turtles were not captured in about 40 percent of wetlands studied. The study identified that the accessibility of native vegetation surrounding urban wetlands was a significant factor impacting upon the abundances of C. oblonga and the presence of juveniles within the populations, likely owing to it providing suitable nesting sites. This suggests that populations are declining due to lack of recruitment.
This predator can be found throughout the south-west of WA. Living in a variety of freshwater sources including wetlands, lakes, dams, and rivers. The carapace (upper shell) ranges in colour from light brown to black, and the underside is usually a pale white/yellow. A mature shell length can be between 30 to 40 cm. A very long olive to the grey neck, the head is large and flat with a protruding snout and an unnotched upper jaw.
They have a particularly interesting feeding technique called the ‘gape-and-suck’ feeding method, where they strike at passing prey quickly enlarging the mouth cavity, which acts like a vacuum sucking the prey into the mouth. They are generalist feeders, and opportunistic carnivores eating a broad range of macro-invertebrates, but can also include carrion, frogs, tadpoles, fish, baby water birds as well as terrestrial organisms that are unfortunate enough to fall into the water. Local populations depend on food availability leading to a reduction of turtles in any given area as some leave to find another water source. In natural environments, these freshwater turtles are estimated to live for 30-40 years.
As climate changes, they have the ability to migrate when the water source runs out and can survive dry periods by going into a state of dormancy called aestivation, where they burrow into mud or leaf litter and wait out the conditions by lowering their metabolic needs and live on stored body fat. Unfortunately during this time, they are vulnerable to foxes and human activity such as clearing or groundworks. They also become vulnerable to these threats during their 2 nesting seasons Spring and Summer. Other threats include injury by traffic, fencing that blocks migrations, illegal fishing by humans, and destruction of natural habitat.
Currently listed as ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN, although its status has not been assessed for 20 years.
The most recent DWER surveys of 35 urban wetlands revealed populations of C. oblonga in Perth wetlands are alarmingly low. There were less than 25 turtles captured in about 60 percent of wetlands, and juvenile turtles were not captured in about 40 percent of wetlands studied. The study identified that the accessibility of native vegetation surrounding urban wetlands was a significant factor impacting upon the abundances of C. oblonga and the presence of juveniles within the populations, likely owing to it providing suitable nesting sites. This suggests that populations are declining due to lack of recruitment.
Join the Turtle Conservation Movement!
TurtleSAT is a free Citizen Science national wide app produced by the 1 Million Turtles Community Conservation program. TurtleSAT allows communities to map the location of freshwater turtles in waterways and wetlands across the country.
Allows the communities to map the location of freshwater turtles in waterways and wetlands across the country. Designed to boost our knowledge about freshwater turtle populations and find crucial hotspots for conservation efforts. Plus, it's super user-friendly!
You can spot Oblong turtles around Albany mainly around spring when they are nesting.
Please submit your sightings to TurtleSat. Download TurtleSAT on Google Play or the Apple App Store, or visit our Public Maps webpage for direct access via https://turtlesat.org.au/turtlesat/pagecontent.aspx?page=turtle_recordobservations
Allows the communities to map the location of freshwater turtles in waterways and wetlands across the country. Designed to boost our knowledge about freshwater turtle populations and find crucial hotspots for conservation efforts. Plus, it's super user-friendly!
You can spot Oblong turtles around Albany mainly around spring when they are nesting.
Please submit your sightings to TurtleSat. Download TurtleSAT on Google Play or the Apple App Store, or visit our Public Maps webpage for direct access via https://turtlesat.org.au/turtlesat/pagecontent.aspx?page=turtle_recordobservations
This is a recording of the 1 Million Turtles: Turtle Talk webinar that was hosted by the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW) on December 16th, 2021. The webinar speakers are Dr Ricky Spencer, a turtle expert from the 1 Million Turtles program and Nathan Cutter from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and the talk covers a range of information about Australian freshwater turtles. This includes different Australian turtle species, the current threats facing them (e.g. Red-eared slider turtles), what is being done to conserve them, the TurtleSAT app, and ways you can get involved to give them a helping hand. You can read more about the 1 Million Turtle program and its links with FNPW here: https://fnpw.org.au/news/latest-news/...
We acknowledge the Minang and Koreng people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present, and emerging and to the wider Noongar community.
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